Citizen Soldier
by Preddlebunny
Summary: Just stories of Boone and the Courier as they spread chaos throughout the mojave. More to eachother than anyone else.
1. Ghould, Nightkins and Rockets Oh my!

Boone didn't have to travel with the Courier more than two days before he found out that she had a mouth on her. That and a knack for having to help every person she came across. Not that he thought it was wrong to help people in need but this was just ridiculous.

The first recon sniper watched the area in front of the REPCONN factory through the crosshairs of his scope. He winced as the Courier, making too much noise for his taste, crawled up on her belly to where he lay.

"What we got Booners?" she basically shouted.

He glared at the twenty three year old, who most of the time acted like she was seventeen, "an ass load of ghouls in our faces if you don't pipe down, and how many times have I told you not to call me that".

When he looked back into his scope she stuck her tongue out at him and took out her binoculars, "hmm", she hummed. "Not too bad I only see about six of them".

"And probably more inside", he replied pulling back his gun and reloading his sniper. "Remind me why we're doing this again?"

"Remind me why you keep complaining", she retorted, "Novac needs this factory or something like that, and Manny said he'd give me some info on Benny if we do this".

Boone furrowed his brow. He found himself questioning, more than not, why he decided to follow this childlike adult. Especially when she took way too many risks for his taste and talked a little too much for someone that took a bullet to the head. When he first saw her practically crawling up the road to Novac he thought nothing of it, but after she had cleverly investigated the mystery of his wife's' seller he couldn't tell her no on the offer to come with her. He had to make himself useful somehow, and if she was determined on killing Legion just as much as he was then it didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

"We could have just broke in to his house and hacked his computer", he replied not to fond of doing a job for Manny.

The Courier pursed her lips at him, a look he had already knew meant 'just shut up and get to work'.

He rolled his eyes, "fine you go down first, take out a few and I'll follow behind and get a couple headshots in".

Her grin was almost feral as she pulled out her cowboy repeater, a weapon of hers that wasn't in its best condition. "Don't leave me hangin", she said quickly before sliding down the slope. Boone choked for a moment on the dust she threw up and peered through his crosshairs. He watched her carefully as the attention of the first four ghouls turned to the courier when she charged in. Like puppets on strings they scrambled toward her.

He took out one with a clean bullet to the head and watched as she used her repeater to nail down another then shot at another who quickly replaced it. Courier, or Six, as he had come to call her since she didn't remember her name wasn't very skilled at handling guns, but what she lacked in weaponry she made up for in her lock pick, speech and science abilities. He told her that in their spare time he would help her aim.

Once she had taken out three he killed another on his way down the slope. When they regrouped at the base of the stairs they charged up them and simultaneously took out the last two on the outside.

"Are you coming?" he said impatiently at the door.

The courier made a face at the dead ghoul that stared up at her through lifeless, creepy eyes, "I forget how ugly these guys are".

"I'm sure they think the same thing of us".

The pair walked into the building closing the door behind them, sheathing the place in darkness. It took a few moments for the couriers eyes to adjust but when they did all she saw was an empty lobby with a model rocket still hanging on the ceiling.

"hmm", she placed both hands on hips and turned to him smugly, "looks like no one's home after all".

Boone rose a brow and with catlike reflexes whipped his rifle around. Her eyes went as wide as saucers as she quickly ducked in time for a bullet to fly over and hit a charging ghoul right in between the eyes. He couldn't help but smile faintly while she shook.

"You were saying", Boone reloaded the missing bullet.

"_Hey over here!"_

They both jumped and turned weapons ready at the sound of a scratchy voice coughing through an intercom on the wall next to Boone.

"_Are you listening?"_

"Now who the heck could that-"

"_Go to the metal staircase on the east side of this building and take the metal staircase all the way up, and hurry!"_

"Who are you?" Six shouted back.

"_It doesn't matter smoothskin now hurry!" _

The other end clicked off.

"Smoothskin?" Six looked over at Boone who just shook his head.

"Well he sure sounds peachy. Let's check it out". '

The recon huffed as he followed the courier into the dark halls. She turned her pipboy light on giving them some kind of visibility, and as soon as she did two ghouls came around the corner, their eyes lit aglow by the green aura she was emitting.

"Zombies!" she shouted as she took one of them down with three shots from a 10mm pistol to the head. Boone shot down another with two shots to its mutated chest. They regained themselves feeling uneasy about groping through the dark with only a small green light as company. After surviving surprise attacks from several ghouls on their way to the east side of the building they finally came to a room with stairs.

"Stairs finally! Please let there be normal people up there!" The courier sheathed her 10mm and started up.

"Doubt it", Boone grunted behind her.

They came to a locked door with another intercom on the wall. She pressed it hesitantly, "hello? We fought our way through those ugly mofo's let us in now?"

"_All right, smoothskin I'm letting you two in. You better watch yourself. I'll sure as hell be watching you". _

Six mouthed the word 'creep' to Boone before the door hissed and slid open vertically.

A balding man that looked about in his late thirties wearing a white lab coat was there to greet them, none too friendly like. "God but are you ugly!"

The courier, with her mouth slightly open in irritation, glanced incredulously at Boone.

"Uh excus-"

"Get upstairs and talk to Jason before I throw up just from looking at you", he interrupted ignoring the glares he got from the taller man beside her.

"You're not a ghoul?" Boone replied with a slight hint of confusion in his voice.

"Your pranks won't work on me Smoothskin, and they won't work on Jason either".

"Smoothskin?" Six stepped piped putting her hands on her hips, "your skin looks pretty smooth to me bud".

Boone stopped her from advancing , "we'll be going now". He grabbed her shoulders and forcefully turned her before her mouth would get them all killed.

"Good riddance", he muttered at them as they ascended the stairs.

"Can you believe that guy? Called me ugly". She almost pouted but her attitude changed when she saw all the ghouls walking around in robes. He felt her shoulders tense before he released her as if she was expecting them to jump out and eat her brains.

A certain ghoul sitting at a table with two other followers stood to greet them, "Hello wanderers, please forgive us of our humble surroundings. Our true home awaits us in the far beyond". He was a Glowing One, supposedly able to distribute healing powers to those around him. Boone had seen their feral kind before and they were nasty enemies.

The lead ghoul clasped his hands together, "have you come to help us complete 'The Great Journey?'

Boone sighed inwardly. Another mission for another group of crackpots.

"Uh who are you?" Six asked with a brow raised.

The ghoul attempted a smile at her, "I am Jason Bright, the prophet of the Great Journey. All the ghouls you see here are members of my flock. I am in great need of your help with some demons".

_Great a Jesus wannabe. _Six cocked her hip to the side, "what demons?"

He looked off into the distance, "the demons are invisible. Where one stands the most one sees is the air shimmering, like sunlight on water…" 

The courier snapped her fingers and he was back, "They set up when we were on our way to worship one morning. We had just entered the basement. My flock fought bravely, and killed a few but with a cost. Nearly half of us died or went missing. We retreated back up here. One of the demons raved at us but they haven't tried attacking us since. Still their demonic presence brought all progress on 'The Great Journey' at a standstill".

His eyes shifted hopefully between the two, "but now you have come. Once again the creator has sent a human to help us across the seemingly insurmountable obstacle".

"We didn't say anything about helping you. We just need you to leave". Boone replied bitterly not in the mood for a god wannabe's ridiculous stories.

Six glared at the taller sniper and made a dismissive gesture, "just ignore him he grows on you. How can we help?"

She smiled at his irritated groan.


	2. The Distance

"Come on it wasn't so bad", the courier said obviously lying as she popped Boone's shoulder back in place. The loud crack noise almost made her sick as his bone reconnected with the right muscles.

Boone doubled over resisting the urge to cry out, "yea…right…super mutants..not bad at all". He groaned again as she shoved a stimpack in his neck to dull the pain. Six frowned at her newly acquired companion already in pain. Well how was she supposed to know they were carrying rebar clubs, or how to spot the fuckers in partial darkness when they were invisible? And how Boone took the frontal of most of the blows was probably her fault too considering she was jumping and screeching behind him at every sound trying to locate them before they would charge.

"Ugh", he recovered into a sitting position rolling his muscled shoulders. She visibly saw the strain of his neck muscles as he tried to cover it. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and stood up a little too fast, "you..should treat your wounds".

The Courier shrugged looking herself over as she stood up, "just some bruises and scratches nothing to worry about".

"Then let's get the hell out of here".

The duo made their way down to Jason where they were preparing for final task in order to launch. Ghouls everywhere were getting dressed in their space suits and appeared to be working on one thing or another. Six walked over to the window looked at the four rockets with curiosity. _They're all gonna go 'Kaboom'. _

"Hey!" the familiar scratchy voice startled her. She turned and saw directing his words towards Boone, "Jason says I have to cooperate with you on one final task necessary to launch the Great Journey.

"Hey Chris", I walked over, breaking my stare from the rockets. "What is it that you do here exactly?"

He sighed and turned to me, "I'm the flocks resident engineer. I've always been good with machines", he seemed to puff up with pride, "Jason says the Great Journey would have been impossible without me. But of course my skills aren't much use here without the proper materials. That's where you come in".

I mentally saw Boone groan behind me, "you need something else?"

Chris almost looked reluctant to ask which didn't surprise me, "yes we need a thrust control module and some atomic fuel to finish the assembly. You should be able to find them near the town of Novac or out in the wasteland somewhere".

"Somewhere huh? Well that's a lot of help bro", Six said placing a hand on her hip.

So after some constant arguing with Chris about his bad advice on how to obtain the objects Boone eventually forced her back to the surface so they could get his charade over.

"What makes you think the atomic fuels out here?", Boone asked as they trudged off road toward a big factory. Supposedly it was heavily guarded by the NCR, but from the looks of it Six was just taking them along the outskirts.

She started walking backwards for a moment, "call it a hunch" and when she turned around again there was a dead guy lying in a ditch, wearing a radiation suit. Six began to feel that tingle in her skin. The same tingle she always get's when she's exposed to radiation.

"Jackpot", she grinned shuffling through the man's things. She held up the case of atomic fuel in victory, "now let's get out of here before I grow a third arm".

.

"So how far do you think they'll make it?" Six asked as the four rockets, one delaying and almost crashing, took off from the launch site.

Boone shrugged next to her, the reflection of the engines fire bouncing off his shades and then disappearing as the rockets disappeared over the factory.

She brushed her short hair back away from her forehead, "Give it about to the moon. Manny better pay me big. That thrust control module cost me 500 caps".

The duo said nothing as they made their way back to Novac with the idea of a nice warm bed on their minds. They hadn't slept since they began clearing out those ghouls and mutants. They were on the outskirts of the small town when Boone stopped behind her.

"I'm not going back there. I'll wait for you here", he said in that monotone voice of his. The courier nodded understandingly and made her way up Dinky the Dinosaur. He thanked her for clearing out the ghouls and compensated her with 500 caps.

"The guy you're looking for, Benny, he was traveling with some members of my old gang. They said something about Boulder City".

Six nodded, she had no idea where that was but Boone might.

"Any idea why they went that way?"

"No clue. I know Benny hadn't paid up yet. Maybe that was where they were supposed to get square. And if you don't know where Boulder City is it's straight up Route 93 from here. Just keep following the road North".

"Thanks that's all I needed to know!" She turned excited about the good info she's gotten. Maybe Benny will still be in Boulder City. The image of his face being crushed by a giant rock in her hand was quite satisfying at the moment.

"Hey I know your busy and all but you haven't seen our night time sniper Boone around have you?"

She turned around taking her hand off the handle of the door, "haven't had the pleasure of meeting him why?"

Manny's face flustered, "it's just that we always cross paths on his way down and I didn't see him this morning. Not that we talk or anything….I was just a little concerned".

Six recalled Boone not wanting to see or talk about Manny. She had to admit she was lying if she said she wasn't curious as to why. "Bad blood between you two?"

"Me and his wife, we didn't get along to well. I dragged Boone down here to share a good position and future and here she comes acting all too good for it….So yea I never saw eye to eye with the bitch".

The courier felt her eyebrow twitch. If Boone was here he wouldn't have a head on his shoulders to talk through. "That's a little harsh".

"If you knew her you wouldn't think that way. Anyway I figured he'd come around after her disappearance, but he hasn't. I'm starting to think things will never go back to the way they were".

He sighed and the moment he did it was like a light bulb went on in Six's mind. The snap of her fingers startled him, "you have the hots for Boone don't you?"

The sniper's mouth opened as if he was about to retort but closed when he realized he was too transparent for her, "that obvious huh?"

.

.

.

.

The Courier fiddled with the engraved cigarette lighter in her hands, twisting it around, tossing up and staring at it intensely as if it was going to produce some long lost answer to her past. The stop at Boulder City wasn't as much cake as she thought it would be. There were hostile Kahns that took a couple NCR soldiers hostage and it was up to her to defuse the situation. The Kahns were in a bad position and they knew it. The NCR could have stormed in and took them out if it weren't for the captives. Luckily she knew someone that was there. The same Kahn that was with Benny the night she was shot and buried. The moment the bastard saw her his eyes got wide as if he was seeing a ghost. Well he kind of was.

Six stared at her refracted face in the reflection of the lighters smooth surface and smiled. After she had got the information needed from him she shot him in the head with her modded 10mm pistol just as quickly as he let Benny do it. Little did he know that his reinforcements outside were all taken care of and the prisoners were free. With Boone and E-DE, the robot we detoured back to Primm for, behind her they managed to take the whole building out in a spray of gunfire. She so happily looted the lighter, recognizing the engraving immediately, and returned to the NCR commander waiting outside.

If she was a happy, peace loving, go lucky girl before getting shot in the head she sure as hell wasn't any more. She was going to kill anything, or anyone in her way of Benny.

Now only ten miles away from Freeside the young wanderer flicked the lighter open and shut as her mind whirled. Her eyes swiveled from the dancing flames of the fire to Boones twitching form resting on the bed roll. His eyes shook back and forth under closed eye lids as if he was fighting a war inside his dreams. His muscles would strain and relax at different intervals while he grumbled unreadable things.

Six tossed another chunk of deadwood inside the fire. She felt his pain. She didn't sleep much since her new awakening. The Courier would see things in her dreams, horrible things, things she was afraid of turning out to be who she was in her past life. So no, a few doses of psycho here and there and she was just a chipper as ever. Boone didn't know she was a chem addict yet and she was going to make sure she stayed that way.

The Courier pulled a small, leather bound, notebook about the size of her hand out of her satchel and began writing down the past events. Doc Mitchell said that starting a journal would help her regain lost memory, but so far no progress. Still it helped relieve some stress. She looked up when Boone stirred nosily in his sleep and frowned, she heard the name 'Carla' grace her ears like ghostly touch from his lips. E-DE was silently hovering in sleep mode over to her right blinking lightly against the firelight. She leaned back against the boulders that surrounded their encampment, feeling herself start to drift off.

Looking down at her pipboy she noticed she was about done with her shift time, but didn't wake up Boone. He needed more sleep than her anyway. She pulled out a psycho syringe and jabbed herself in the arm, feeling the tingling, warm serum work its way into her veins. Flicking the cigarette lighter open and closed one last time she shoved it in her back pocket and held her rifle at the ready.


End file.
